So this is my first visit ever to the JavaOne. I’ve been to many national conferences, but never to a yearly, world wide appealing one. And I’m both amazed and disappointed.

Amazed because of the conference size; integrated with the Oracle World, the conference hands out a paper with the sessions for easy reference. But instead of one for the whole conference, you get one for each day. And it is full. 6 large news paper size page full of almost micro sized printed sessions. You almost start to wonder if every visitor is a speaker. Doing ‘just’ one talk makes you feel insignificant.

Amazed because of the venue size; blocking off a street, people sitting and coding everywhere, distributed over 4 large buildings. Security everywhere. Police guiding traffic. JavaOne occupies only the second floor of Moscone West building, with over 20 conference rooms. Large hallways, several floors high, a HUGE podium for the keynotes, full with displays where just one of them won’t fit in my house. Impressive. Humiliating.

And with all that wealth and grandeur emanating from these settings, the real knowledge is transferred in diarrhea brown conference rooms, with weird blackish tarps behind the speaker and a cold down draft. One wonders if only the outer hull, where the camera’s are, is shiny. Plus you realize that ‘my’ national conference, JFall, isn’t doing so bad at all; at least every part of the venue has gotten the same level attention. (And I really do not mind a bit of grandeur and bling bling, it puts the fun in things.)

Respect NLJUG.